Ulster v Toulouse Sat Apr 16 8pm KO BT Sport 2

[kUD]

Ulster team to play Toulouse, Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 Second Leg, Saturday 16 April at Kingspan Stadium, 8pm kick-off, live on BT Sport, beIN Sports, and Sky Italia:

(15-9) Mike Lowry, Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney;

(1-8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor, Iain Henderson (Capt.), Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen.

Replacements: Brad Roberts, Eric O’Sullivan, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Jordi Murphy, Nathan Doak, Luke Marshall, Rob Lyttle.

I worry a bit about our reserve front row. I thought it worked quite well having Warwick coming off the bench in the last match, whereas in previous games when EOS and TOT came on towards the end I felt our scrum went backwards.

[big mervyn]

Hi Neill

Just to correct but Good Friday is a bank Holiday and public holiday in Republic of Ireland whether firms take it or not is their choice.

OK, interesting. So not everyone is off etc.

Same as here. The NI civil service get Mon and Tue off. A lot of workplaces prefer that as only one week is disrupted.

[rumncoke]

The first score is possibly the key to this game -- French teams are a mix of good bad and ugly and you wonder which is going to turn up
Tuco or Angel Eyes or Clint and all three are deadly.

[leedsexile]

Just off plane looking for venue to watch pre game games. Is malone rugby club open to all. Any other venues close to ground

[BR]

Hi Neill

Just to correct but Good Friday is a bank Holiday and public holiday in Republic of Ireland whether firms take it or not is their choice.

Wrong!

Like NI, RoI doesn't take good friday as a public holiday.

Not even the barstaff get it now.

[BR]

Just off plane looking for venue to watch pre game games. Is malone rugby club open to all. Any other venues close to ground

Pavilion on the Ormeau Road or Erigle one block further out.

Pavilion is an excellent pint of guinness.

[BR]

Just off plane looking for venue to watch pre game games. Is malone rugby club open to all. Any other venues close to ground

Pavilion on the Ormeau Road or Erigle one block further out.

Pavilion is an excellent pint of guinness.

You'll need to wait till 11:30 though.

[rocky]

Leedsexile. Malone is indeed open with an offer of a pint and a pizza for a tenner or something like that.

[BR]

Leedsexile. Malone is indeed open with an offer of a pint and a pizza for a tenner or something like that.

If he turns up this early at Malone, he's more likely to get a game!

[leedsexile]

Thanks all fry has been taken, hotel will squeeze us in early for a few zzzs then it's the black stuff we will give malone a go. Buzzin

[Dharper]

The lineout has to be actually officiated this time.

I’d imagine it’ll be part of a pre match representation to the ref. Thank god we had a strong ref in French - Wayne Barnes might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he doesn’t get intimidated by the crowd….must be the barrister in him.

In relation to the front row mix , and Warwick replacing EOS:
None of us know how much it took out of them last week. For me, we have to start our strongest scrum, we can’t give the French easy entry points into the game (a plethora of scrum pens could be the foundation of blowing us out the water)…..we can’t give them a sniff, and need to take control of the game early and get the crowd into the game. A weakened scrum in last 20 but fresh legs around the pitch is the trade off. May of course might not be much in it, and is an agreement re managing mins/fatigue.

[Dharper]

The lineout has to be actually officiated this time.

I’d imagine it’ll be part of a pre match representation to the ref. Thank god we had a strong ref in French - Wayne Barnes might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he doesn’t get intimidated by the crowd….must be the barrister in him.

In relation to the front row mix , and Warwick replacing EOS:
None of us know how much it took out of them last week. For me, we have to start our strongest scrum, we can’t give the French easy entry points into the game (a plethora of scrum pens could be the foundation of blowing us out the water)…..we can’t give them a sniff, and need to take control of the game early and get the crowd into the game. A weakened scrum in last 20 but fresh legs around the pitch is the trade off. May of course might not be much in it, and is an agreement re managing mins/fatigue between the 2 lads.

SUFTUM

[StandUp]

Hi Neill

Just to correct but Good Friday is a bank Holiday and public holiday in Republic of Ireland whether firms take it or not is their choice.

OK, interesting. So not everyone is off etc.

Same as here. The NI civil service get Mon and Tue off. A lot of workplaces prefer that as only one week is disrupted.

Did you just mention civil service and work in the same paragraph??

[jean valjean]

First score will be crucial, if we can even squeeze a penalty to put us one score clear it will change the dynamics a bit. As with all French teams if we get a bit of clear separation on the scoreboard the effort levels amongst the big forwards begins to drop particularly in defence. They'll still go hammer and tongs in attack but maul defence and willingness to off the ground suffers.

[justinr73]

Getting my pre-match meal in Windsor.

Not a cloud in the sky here. Warm an’ all.

Time for a few pints before the flight.